The Salem Capitals are an American professional basketball team based in Salem, Oregon, and a member of United States Basketball League (USBL). They play their home games in the Salem Armory, which seats 3,000 for basketball.
On December 6, 2020, Evelyn Magley, CEO of The Basketball League (TBL), stated that Salem, Oregon, was approved as a basketball franchise with Jason Conrad the inaugural team owner. The Capitals opted to sit out the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their motto is "community culture" and the team actively focuses on and participates in community engagement projects and outings.
On November 6, 2025, Conrad announced that the Capitals will be joining the relaunched USBL for the 2026 season.
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The Capitals had an up and down 2025 season. Their season was highlighted by the signing of Robert Upshaw. However, they were never able to find their groove and missed the postseason for the first time in franchise history. But, their community presence grew to new heights as they averaged about 1,100 fans per home game.
The Capitals began the season 0-2 before winning 6 straight and finishing the month of April with a record of 8-6. On April 28th during the third quarter of a home game against the Wenatchee Bighorns, Jason Conrad collapsed on the sideline. Fans were evacuated and the game was postponed to be finished at a later date. Conrad quickly made a full recovery. Due to Pacific Northwest conference teams playing a varying amount of regular season games, playoff standings were to be decided by win percentage. The top two playoff seeds were the Vancouver Volcanoes (16-4) and the Seattle Super Hawks (16-8). The Capitals went on to finish the regular season with a record of with a regular season record of 13-10 (.565 win percentage) while the Bighorns finished 10-9 (.526 win percentage). Due to the closeness of their respective win percentages, it was decided that the Capitals and Bighorns resume the unfinished game in Seattle on May 28th, with the winner playing the Super Hawks in the first round of the playoffs later that night. In unprecedented fashion, the game was resumed with 5:26 left in the third quarter with a score of Capitals 76, Bighorns 66. The Capitals went on to win the game 111-106, moving their record to 14-10. Despite a valiant effort and long day of basketball, they subsequently lost to the Super Hawks 130-127 later that night, ending their season.
The Capitals began the season 5-7 before winning 10 of the 13 remaining regular season games, finishing with a regular season record of 15-10, good for second place in the Northwest division (within the West conference). They won a thrilling first round playoff game over the Vancouver Volcanoes 117-114 before falling to the Seattle Super Hawks during the West Conference Semi-Finals in a best two out of three series.
On March 4, 2022, the team's inaugural season began with a 116-100 win over the Vancouver Volcanoes. They went on to win their next seven consecutive games before a 127-125 loss to the California Sea-Kings on April 1. They finished the regular-season with a record of 17-7, good for third place in the West Conference. They swept the Vancouver Volcanoes in the First Round of the playoffs and then fell to the California Sea-Kings during the West Conference Semi-Finals in a best two out of three series.